Who Wants Normal?

A groundbreaking memoir about what it means to be a disabled woman in Britain today from the acclaimed journalist and author, including insights and personal stories from over 50 contributors

We all need this book Jameela Jamil

Beautiful, vital and important. I loved it Jack Thorne, writer of Adolescence

‘A razor sharp manifesto by one of Britains most vital voices’ Yomi Adegoke

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2026 UNWIN AWARD FOR MAKING A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORLD

LONGLISTED FOR THE DIVERSE BOOK AWARDS

NOW WITH A NEW FOREWORD

No one really talks about it. No one really talks about what it is to be a disabled woman, especially a young one … To navigate all the standard parts of life - exams, careers, dating - but with a body that is different from everyone else’s.

Almost one in four women in the UK have some sort of disability, yet this subject is too often shrouded in silence and stereotypes. Who Wants Normal? by the award-winning journalist and author Frances Ryan is a game-changing take on disability and feminism.

Part memoir, part manifesto, it explores six facets of life: education, careers, health, body image, relationships and representation, as well as how to survive life’s bumps in the road. It draws on Frances’s own experience as well as her interviews with over fifty of Britain’s best-known women and non-binary people with mental and physical health conditions, including Jameela Jamil, Sophie Morgan, Ruth Madeley, Nikki Fox, Rosie Jones, Fearne Cotton, Emma Barnett, Ellie Goldstein and Katie Piper.

Who Wants Normal? lifts the lid on and redefines what it means to be a disabled woman in Britain today. It offers support, inspiration and a sense of solidarity to the many women with disabilities and long-term health conditions – as well as opening the eyes of anyone wanting to better understand life with a disability.

Ive never related to a book more. Disabled or not, you MUST read this Rosie Jones

Supercharged relevance [full of] robust analysis and wry humour… readers will find here stories to inspire, enrage and encourageObserver